Publication database

This textbook, designed for middle and senior managers in microfinance institutions, is relevant for institutions that have already diversified and are looking for ways to manage their diversification more effectively as well as those that have not yet done so and are looking for guidance on where and how to begin. This second volume builds on the highly acclaimed "Making Microfinance Work: Managing for Improved Performance".

Are clients benefiting from microinsurance? How do we measure those benefits? How do we improve the value proposition for the clients? Microinsurance Paper #12 contributes to this discussion by focusing on improving client value rather than proving it. It presents results from the analysis of 15 microinsurance schemes in Kenya, India and the Philippines using the ILO's client value assessment tool called PACE (Product, Access, Cost and Experience). The PACE tool looks at the added value for clients from insurance products by comparing them to each other and to alternative means of offering protection from similar risks. The results show that there is a place for microinsurance to add value on the top of informal risk-sharing practices and existing social security schemes to protect low-income populations against life and health risks. The paper presents also a menu of interventions that can further improve client value from microinsurance. 

Este informe profundiza en la construcción de relaciones entre empresas y comunidades locales y ONGs analizando los mecanismos de adaptación organizativa a través de dos casos del sector energético.

This report outlines insights and recommendations from the Business Call to Action workshop on creating scalable inclusive business models. It discusses keys to success that include: strong leadership; appropriate market analysis; enabling technologies to reduce transaction costs; and partnerships between businesses and other stakeholders which help reduce risks and plug resource gaps.

Este documento presenta la evaluación realizada a un programa del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo para la involucración de Micro Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas en la atención de los consumidores de la base de la pirámide. La evaluación desarrolla los antecendentes del programa, los objetivos, la metodología usada, los resultados, el impacto, la replicabilidad, sostenibilidad, entre otros aspectos.

This report identifies the emerging class of home-grown sub-Saharan African multinational corporations 'MNC's' and it details their expansion strategies and contribution to development. It share insights for other African companies about how to expand effectively and maximize development impact; and for policymakers that can shape the business climate to encourage MNC expansion.

This case study presents the business model of the Vietnamese company Mai Vietnamese Handicrafts (MVH). The company reaches out to artisans in underserved areas and employs them as producers. As well as being the primary marketing agent for neglected women in rural areas, MVH is also actively involved in product development, marketing activities and design to offer quality, environmentally friendly and trendy products.

This case study showcases Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT), India’s largest manufacturer of paper, which joined the Business Call to Action with the commitment to integrate low-income smallholder farmers into its supply chain. It outlines the company's goals which include sourcing 87,500 metric tons of raw materials from local farmers; and it discusses how the business model works; the business and development impacts to date; and the key success factors.

This report reviews the Grameen Koota financial services and Hippocampus Learning Centres (HLC) partnership which provides fee-based quality education combined with an enjoyable experience of learning for children living in rural areas of Karnataka, India. It outlines the programme design, financial implications, challenges and pilot findings from 18 villages.

This document represents a contribution made by the Tripartite Committee comprising the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to the fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas Initiative, in Santo Domingo, on 5 October 2011. The report sets out lessons learned and success stories, both in the region and elsewhere, concerning the priority area of promoting the development of micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SME). It includes the fields of productive linkages for SME, preparing a modern labour force, trade facilitation, technological modernization, environmental governance and cooperation and improving policies.